Wisconsin junior and wrestling co-captain Ralph DeNisco was able to pin Minnesota’s Casey Flaherty in just under two and a half minutes, but the Badgers could not hold off the No. 3 Gophers in their 40-6 loss in the Field House Sunday. The loss drops UW to just 1-6 in the Big Ten, while Minnesota improves to 6-1.

“I know we got beat, but I still think that there are a lot of positives to take out of the meet,” DeNisco said. “We’re a really young team, and I think it showed a little bit today. But it was a learning experience, and it’s going to help us in the Big Tens, in the nationals — and it’s going to help us next year, too. Next year will be our turn to beat teams like this.”

Of the Badgers’ nine wrestlers that suited up, only three were upperclassmen: seniors Justin Staebler and Tony Black and junior Ralph DeNisco. UW’s five freshmen were competitive in their matches, but none of them were able to come away with a victory.

Tony Turner, Ed Gutnik, Kelly Flaherty, Lee Kraemer and Tom Clum all wrestled well, but their youth and inexperience proved to be too much to overcome.

“At 125 (pounds) and heavyweight, we were just one step away. In our other weights right now, though, we’re just getting outmanned. That’s all there is to it. When you have that many freshmen in there, it’s going to be tough at this level,” UW head coach Barry Davis said.

“We as coaches knew it was going to be a long year, but we just need to work through it and get the team ready for the Big Ten championships and gain experience for next year. These next two weeks will be the toughest training weeks of the season, and we’ll be concentrating on our skills and keeping the guys up mentally.”

Arguably, the toughest match of the day was between Tony Black and Bobby Lowe.

Black fell behind early, but would later prove why he is the No. 11 lightweight wrestler in the country. The UW senior reeled off four unanswered points, bringing the score to 5-6. Neither wrestler picked up another point throughout the remainder of the match, and Lowe came away with the upset.

At the 165-pound weight division, UW’s Kelly Flaherty more than held his own against Minnesota’s No. 7 Jacob Volkmann, allowing just two points after a takedown through the first and second period. Flaherty was able to earn an escape point early in the third period, but Volkmann ensured the win with a second takedown and picked up another point in the match’s waning moments, earning him the 5-1 decision. The Gophers scored 23 unanswered points to open the dual, but DeNisco broke up the possibility of an open dual shutout after his pin of Casey Flaherty, older brother of teammate Kelly Flaherty.

Wisconsin dropped its last four matches, however, including a 5-1 upset of UW heavyweight Justin Staebler by the Gophers’ Jacob Lininger. The Badgers will look to bounce back from yesterday’s loss next Sunday, Feb. 23 when they play host to the Ohio State Buckeyes. The dual will be Wisconsin’s last of the season before heading into the Big Ten championships, which will be held March 8-9 at the UW Field House.